This was bound to happen sooner or later. A new online social network is now out in beta form–and it’s specifically for kids too young for Facebook.
Called Togetherville, this online network aims to emulate the digital version of a safe and friendly neighborhood that is fun and interactive for both child and parent. As the founder and parent Mandeep Singh Dhillon says in an article in CNN: 
"We built Togetherville using the spirit of the neighborhoods most of us remember when we were kids," said co-founder, CEO, and parent Mandeep Singh Dhillon, "where everyone knows everyone else and watches out for each other. In Togetherville, parents have peace of mind that their kids are playing with people they know and trust and kids have fun while learning the tools they need to become good digital citizens."
As online safety is a huge concern with any parent, the developers of Togetherville emphasize parental controls and parental permission for their children who enter this online community. As the article goes on:
Fully compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Togetherville is intended for kids who are too young for Facebook, officially, but have parents immersed in that culture. The 6- to 10-year-olds are invited to engage with their real-world friends, play games, watch videos, and create art. Grownups act as the gateways for new contacts, assuming the responsibility for inviting other families to join each child’s online neighborhood. Experiencing online networking together, grownups can guide their kids through the age-appropriate content in an ad-free environment.
Will we be soon be seeing a generation of young Togetherville addicts updating their "quips" (their equivalent of Facebook status updates) in their free time on the playground? While many of the safety controls get a major thumb’s up from parents across the board, having only a script of premeditated "quips" and comments to choose from is a major drawback for a kid who is begining to learn how to express herself.
Or maybe super-early exposure to Togetherville will diminish the novelty factor of online social media sites by the time the kid reaches middle school. After all, according to a recent article on Mashable, one in five teenagers are already feeling Facebook Fatigue, and are no longer using their account as regularly as their other peers.
They were probably the same teenagers who got a Facebook account behind their parents’ backs at the age of 8…
PHOTO (cc): Flickr / whiteafrican
Hey Yumi-
Nice work as always-
I've been gone awhile- Husband was in a moto accident- nice to be back and see this piece-
No more Club Penguin for little kids???
I'm now trying to warn teens about LOCKERZ-
a faux social media site that is actually a mask worn by a larger media company,
called Liberty Media ( who, btw, own HSN, QVC, etc)
and are essentially doing market research by harvesting teen email accts and IP addresses, zip codes, cell numbers, etc
and "rewarding" them for doing mundane tasks like watching one of their online videos or answering brief surveys and dangling promises of redeeming points for expensive electronics like iPads or Xbox's.
Of course the "prizes" are always "fresh out"
and most kids receive nothing more than a logo tshirt
or lots of wasted time-
meanwhile the media co makes tons of money
reselling niche market teen coolness data to larger corps like McDonalds, etc
It's genius on the viral mktg level, however
I should blog about it-
Stay well!!!
Hi Renee,
All my best wishes and a very speedy recovery for your husband. I have not heard about LOCKERZ–and that sounds scary!! You should absolutely blog about it, it will definitely educate a lot of people who don't know about that. Looking forward to more blog posts from you!